The protests are being carried out after security guards asked black citizens to leave the beach

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) is the latest addition to the list of protesters at Clifton Fourth beach in Cape Town. The protests are being carried out against a private security company whose security guards asked black citizens to leave the beach after sunset on December 23, two days before Christmas.

“We’re calling for this racist behaviour to be shut off, where our people are removed the same way it was done back in the day where our people were given a curfew to not go to certain areas,” Banzi Dambuza, the EFF’s regional Secretary, said.

The people who were targeted by the security guards included Faiez Jacobs, a member of the African National Congress in the Western Cape, and his group of 15 other people.

Angered by the incident, a group of protesters even slaughtered a sheep on the beach in a ritual supposed to ward off racism, while others sang and burned incense.

According to Eyewitness News, PPA security’s lawyer told the publication that the guards didn’t ask anyone to leave the beach, saying they were warning beachgoers of the possible dangers on the beach after dark. He added that the company has an unwritten agreement with the City of Cape Town and that it has helped law enforcement in past operations.

However, the government authorities in Cape Town have dismissed all the claims put forward by the PPA security firm. They have denied having any contract with PPA.

Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato has assured that a full-scale investigation is being carried out he is hoping to have a full report on the issue soon.

Notably, beaches in addition to some other public areas were segregated under white-minority apartheid rule, and have since been a flashpoint of racial tension in South Africa. Back in 2016, South African estate agent Penny Sparrow compared black beach-goers to monkeys in a social media post, which triggered widespread outrage.